BMI has announced the appointment of two senior executives who will lead major initiatives as the company advances its strategic growth plan.
Tom Kershaw, a technology leader in Internet and Mobile communications, including work on mobile application development, advertising and marketing systems, data science and large-scale data, will join the company as Chief Technology Officer, and Justin Rohde, who has more than 20 years’ experience in strategic management and building growth opportunities for both corporations and consulting firms, has joined BMI in the newly created position of Chief Transformation Officer. Both Kershaw and Rohde will report to Mike O’Neill, President & CEO of BMI.
“Tom and Justin have the experience and leadership qualities to enable us to enhance and increase the value we provide to our songwriters, composers and publirs,” said O’Neill. “Working with our team, they will be instrumental as we carry out the key elements of our strategic growth plan, to continue to grow distributions, advance our technology and customer service and to seek new sources of revenue for our affiliates.”
Kershaw previously co-founded one of the leading open-source software organizations in the Internet community (prebid.org) and has more than 20 years of experience working with businesses in technology-based markets, ranging in both size and geographic complexity.
He joins BMI most recently from Travelport, a leader in travel distribution for air, hotel, car, and rail, and has also held positions at Google and Ericsson. He received his undergraduate degree from New York University and a Masters’ degree from London School of Economics. Kershaw is taking over this role from BMI’s Chief Information Officer, Mike West, who recently announced his retirement from the company.
“Tom’s background and track record of driving digital transformation, coupled with his passion for innovation and experience working with large scale data, position him well to lead BMI’s significant technological advancement and modernization” continued O’Neill. “These include our efforts to manage the opportunities and challenges of AI and create new avenues for affiliates and licensing partners to enhance their BMI experience through technology.”
Rohde brings extensive experience in process improvement, sales effectiveness, product development and global business management to BMI. He joins the company from Xplor Technologies, a private equity owned Global SaaS and Payments conglomerate where he served as both Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Transformation Officer.
In that capacity, he was responsible for revenue growth, profit improvement and strategic initiatives across diverse areas of the business. Previous experience includes leading product development and growth strategies at Integramed America and management and strategy consulting at Bain & Company. Rohde received his undergraduate degree, Master of Science degree and MBA from Northwestern University.
“Justin brings a wealth of experience in driving business growth by pairing strategic vision with practical implementation. He will not only help us enhance our processes and programs, but also will lead our efforts to obtain new revenue sources for our affiliates. This is the absolute right time for our company to add the position of Chief Transformation Officer, as we continue to accelerate our plan to maximize royalties and improve the service we provide to our creative community,” said O’Neill.